St. Paul, Minnesota

The City of St. Paul's electric vehicle efforts are led by Drive Electric Minnesota, a partnership of local and state government, Xcel Energy, private business and nonprofit entities working in collaboration to bring electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in charging infrastructure to Minnesota. Their goals include encouraging the deployment of EVs and the establishment of a charging station infrastructure through public-private partnerships, financial incentives, education, technical support and public policy.

Drive Electric Minnesota plans to install about 30 plug-in charging stations throughout the metro area in ramps, flat lots and on-street locations. Four to six of these publically available charging stations will be solar powered. Many of these plug-in charging stations will be located in the Energy Innovation Corridor adjacent to the light rail line that will connect the cities of Saint Paul and Minneapolis.

Partners at the City of Minneapolis, City of Saint Paul, Hennepin County, Metropolitan Airport Commission, Ramsey County, State of Minnesota and Xcel Energy have purchased Ford Transit Connect plug in electric vehicles. By doing so, they are testing and evaluating the EV’s operational performance, with special consideration toward Minnesota’s extreme climate conditions as businesses and residents contemplate purchasing EVs of their own.